In Alabama, Workers At Amazon Warehouse Are Poised For Union Vote

A vote beginning this week among Amazon workers in an Alabama suburb could decide if a warehouse there becomes the company's first unionized facility in the U.S.

Ballots will go out on Monday to more than 5,800 workers at the warehouse in Bessemer, near Birmingham, asking if they want to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The election runs through March 29 and marks the first Amazon warehouse union vote since a group of technicians in Delaware voted against unionizing in 2014.

The mail-in vote will also come just days after the National Labor Relations Board shot down an effort by Amazon to delay the union election. The company had petitioned for a postponement reasoning that the vote — conducted by mail due to minimize spread of the coronavirus — should be done in person.

Amazon has battled back efforts to unionize their American facilities, even though many of its European warehouses operate under union agreements. Amazon representatives have also said that workers behind the union drive do not represent a majority of its employees.